", "It's got gravitas, it's got balls, it does dynamics. . I was completely unable to enjoy the music because the sound was so bad - harsh, screechy and thin. The twilight zone? Now, according to Ron, this is where things went south, and where he makes an admission. When I didnt receive any tracking info I emailed and received a response saying that they were waiting on parts and that it would be another two weeks. Just wanted to let you know that these new Double Impact speakers are outstanding! ", There is nothing better sounding out there, MoFi Electronics SourcePoint 10 loudspeaker, SVS Prime Pro wireless active loudspeaker, Fleetwood Sound Company DeVille SQ loudspeaker, The Big Toys Play Without Limitations in Quintessence Audio Ltd's 3 Rooms: Wilson, Dan D'Agostino, dCS, Sonus faber, Boulder, Another Wow from Credo Audio Switzerland, EMM Labs, Meitner Audio, VPI, Dynaudio and Octave Triumph over Acoustics at AXPONA, Atohm's GT1 Bookshelves Offer Impressive Bass, Scott Walker Audio, Von Schweikert, VAC, Aurender, LampizatOr, and MasterBuilt, Partnered with Shunyata, Clarisys launches neodymium-magnet Minuet speakers, With B&W and Marantz, Masimo, a maker of medical devices, makes the push into audio. We've partnered with the highly respected transducer vendor SB Acoustics, and they produce our Impact Monitor parts.". But I did research thoroughly, and paid a lot of attention to reviews of the double impact. . Billy Preston :-) . What phraseology, it takes my mind and imagination to Schonbek Silver Chandeliers in Clear Swarovski. Your email address will not be published. Ill admit to being a bit nervous about purchasing such large speakers without first hearing them, but Ive found my concerns were completely unfounded. Btw, I returned the GE Triton 7s the next day I got the Double Impacts. I haven't heard them, but in the past I did hear Tekton towers; I believe they were Pendragons. I was an audiophile for over 25 years constantly searching for the ultimate system. Each speaker stands 24.5" tall by 10.125" wide by 13.1" deep and weighs 40 lb. However, when I want to crank it up, they respond like a Ferrari! I also heard of speakers being sent with mismatched grills, or that they still smelled of fresh paint. Morphine lit up the Impact Monitors, and I must say Dana Colley's sax emerged with all of its brassy, breathy beauty intact [] The Impacts have a way of bringing the soul of music back to life in ways that you just don't get from other speakers in their price class. Well, after two weeks, the smile on my face that immediately surfaces each time I listen to MUSIC as it plays on your speakers does not fade. Some nights listening, its like you are there! The build quality is awesome too, so sturdy and solid. 4 minutes ago, PhilBarone said: Bi-wire adds support for using discrete cables for the high and low frequencies. Expect sound like Wilsons, Focals and Magico for 1/10 of the price. I had frustrated artists syndrome myself so I know it when I see it. I never thought that I could ever experience this type of satisfaction. Numerous friends and family say how good they are. When I play albums (vinyl guy here) such as the opening to the Beatles Sgt. The Enzo XLs sounded a little polite for my taste, but they imaged clearly, and delivered a consistently well-sorted upper midrangewhich is where I imagined the Impact Monitor's tweeter problems would be. That might anger 65 year old traditionalists but for those who don't want to spend $40,000 on speakers - a pair of Double Impacts are a great choice. They easily reflect changes in amplifiers (and preamplifiers/DACs) in the signal . If your Double Impacts lacked bass,richness, and projection, something is very very wrong. Is this a killer speaker for smaller rooms? They didnt have my music collection, sorely, nor were they given more than 2 hours for a nobody to walk into their shop looking to demo speakers where building them was their sole focus. I hired a couple of guys to help me get them up the stairs of our place and set them up and boy, was I disappointed. The [$2000/pair] Tekton Impact Monitors were doing it all: singing, drumming, shaking the air, drawing me in, and making every CD or LP pure pleasure to listen to. Dont blame me for being smitten. Few speakers can play every musical genre with the Impact's level of ease, acuity, and, uh . I have read many reviews and stories of people returning speaker in the $10,000 to $30,000 range and getting the Double Impacts with no regrets at all. I use to audition speakers and Ive been listening to them for more than 15 yrs now. Thats a really lousy experience. Like most who are interested in audiophile accoutrements, I have had the chance to listen to some very expensive systems in my time and plenty of cheap ones too. I purchased a set of Tekton Double Impact Speakers earlier this year. On both occasions I was surprised at how colored and down right unpleasant the music sounded. "[] these are my new references. understatement on how I can describe what I was hearing. (store manager) March 4, 2020. Their high efficiency and the ability to push more air seems like these could be a good speaker for . As the album starts, the sense of space and realism is palpable. ( I can easily forgive 'em for bee-n mormons if that's what they are ). Share this post. I work in audio and am a musician and long time audioholic. I believe I may heed his advice. One lecturer took me to a local hifi club that was demonstrating Klipsch speakers, he had just bought a pair. That said, I can crank the hell out of Credence Clearwater Revival, Pink Floyd, Miles Davis, INXS, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, etc. Yeah That is the fun part of the whole thing . That is what keeps us all interested :-) . By "the zone", do you mean a polite way of staying on topic? The last time I had an experience like this I was listening to Focal Sopra 2s paired with McIntosh gear. If you choose 2 ohm, please be aware that there are only 4 midrange tweeters and 1 high frequency tweeter instead of the 7 pictured. In a way the Impact Monitors have ruined other speakers (within their reasonable price range) for me because now even clean sounding or tonally perfect dont do it for me if the scale isnt there. Terry London reviews Tekton Design's new Impact Monitor, a three-way, nine-driver speaker that features the company's proprietary high-frequency driver array flanked by two 6.5-inch bass drivers . another well respected floor stander and my sub is highly reviewed and well acclaimed. and bought a pair of up-graded Double Impact Speakers. Now, I have finally arrived at a small fraction of the price. Speaker he reviewed sounded good except one area of frequency. ", "[T]he Tekton monitors [] blew me away. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I attribute it to my room. Cabinets placed in a warehouse at different stages of completion and a few very busy, but polite individuals, including Eric Alexander. Associated equipment: Musical Fidelity A300, Schiit Bifrost DAC, Kimber PBJ interconnects, Audioquest Type 4 (crimp terminated without solder), dedicated laptop computer configured with Fidelizer and playing WAV files ripped from CDs. Tekton Design Double Impact SE floorstanding speaker pair 2999 2999 USD USD. Romney is a good guy and trump a jerk for dissing him. Like a lot of other speakers at the show. I own Double Impacts. This search started in 1980 as a college student with my first system consisting of a NAD receiver, Genesis speakers with a Dual turntable. VPI Prime Turntable with Hana EL Cartridge Most people prefer 4 Ohm impedence. After going through the Tekton thread on a certain blog, I went ahead called Eric and ordered the Double Impacts. Based on my listening I feel confident in saying that they are very capable of playing many genres of music well. These have just blown me away and I have to say that the more I listen I have to say that there is nothing I heard at The RMAF that I would swap out for my Double Impacts. Please note that If you are looking to pick fault with Tekton, you might say that the cabinets aren't as nice as the . I received the Double Impacts on Tuesday and have done a lot of listening the last 5 days. Got my Double Impacts up and running and so far they are incredible! Each day I become more enthusiastic, assured about my decision and believing that I have found a musical median that I will hold on for many years. But the Double Impacts revealed the change of digital source in way that jumped out at my non-audiophile friend. 98 dB sensitivity be damned, these speakers loved (needed?) They were nice but I couldnt live without the dynamic, real sound of the Enzos and after three weeks went back to them. Its difficult putting into words just how thrilled I am with the Double Impacts, but before I get into sharing their attributes let me describe my speaker journey prior to purchasing them. I started with HP proprietary computers several years before IBM entered the PC business. That was at a shop called Paragon and of course they specialized in the paragon, when the heils were auditioned half the room rushed to the hallway to confront the owner of the shop. As the Double Impacts have broken in, I have been continuously and increasingly astonished at their natural and ghostly-holographic sound. But also, you get what you pay for. They used to find people that had negative reviews on forumsand theyd swarm in like losers just blowing up their spot. Oh, and yes, all the dynamic slam one could ask for. The Double Impacts are fully broken-in. Raven Audio voices their amps using Legacy Audio speakers and they offered me a deal on their show demo models and I thought this would be the last speakers Id ever buy. Hoping to eliminate that bloat and bloom, I moved them farther and farther out into the room, until the rear ports were 38" from the front wall. As long time dyed-in-the-wool audio geek, I never imagined listening to, much less enjoying, an orange painted speaker system that included 14 tweeters! I was lead to another small warehouse location with more cabinets but in the center an opening where a drum set, a pair of DIs and a pair of Ulfberhts sat. I have the older, sealed 212HT-LP models, but the current 212HTR run $3300 each. . They are a stunning achievement in speaker design. Edit. I think this is again because of the scale presented by the Impact Monitors. The bottom-end extension is accurate and taut; you dont really need a subwoofer for music or everyday TV listening. Then I remembered: I'd thought the same thing about Tekton's floorstanding, three-tweeter, Enzo XL, which I reviewed in the April 2015 issue. I have many specific examples, FYI. I immediately started asking for music that I was truly fond of, average rock recordings and such. Im about 40 hours in and these things get better each day! Find out what Terry London thinks of the new speaker in this week's featured review. I picked up a 2-10 subwoofer last year, mainly on the rare chance that it would be more musical than other stuff Ive tried. Ive owned B&W 804 (mains), HTM3s (center) and CM5 (rear) for the past 13 years and loved the signature B&W sound. Im not sure if you tried this or not. Moab is seamless top to bottom and creates a wall-to-wall soundstage with realistically sized images. Keven Deal just did a YouTube Review of the Tannoy Cheviot ( which wants $6,500 up front and Funeral Home setting back home ). Sine wave tests with a decibel meter show a startlingly flat bass response at my seating position even though the back of the speakers are 10 inches from the back wall. I think the big name audio companies have been selling a lot of sizzle and not a lot of substance. If I turn it down to night listening levels the problem goes away, but for someone who has come to enjoy scale this is a bit annoying. The global supply chain is a mess now, and Covid is not making it better. Ive had this music for 30 years and I heard things in this recording that Ive never heard before. A notable achievement, worthy of both review and acclaim. The TuneTot was clean to perfect musically and tonally, but gets easily swallowed up even in a small listening room. philippe barone. In Apple's case for example, large-scale Chinese manufacturing and the legendary iron-fisted dominance of Steve Jobs turned what could have been tons and tons of schlock into a wealth of useful and durable products. Even higher end speakers in the $5,000 range that may have a touch more definition at the very top end (mentioned below) cannot compete with the mid-range or scale produced by these in my set up. Thisarray disperses aprecisely focused acoustical powerpatternof that of a horn or waveguide withoutthe audible ringinginfluence of hornflare walls constraining the soundwavefor acoustically superior mid-rangehigh frequency performance, 4 Ohm design for optimum performance 8 Ohm & 2 Ohm Double Impact option, Ultra-linear frequency response with 1dB deviation from 70Hz-20kHz, Height 54 (137.16 cm) x Width 12 (30.48 cm) x Depth 17.75 (45.085 cm). This is a follow-up to my first review 18 months ago. I think you know what Im talking about! The classic two- or three-way woofer/midrange/tweeter design contains shortcomings, because the mass relationship is wrong when compared to the recorded source [eg, a violin string]. The rest no excuse. Trump? The magic I'm getting with them is being produced by a . Moab is seamless top to bottom and creates a wall-to-wall soundstage with realistically sized images. Imagine a gentle but guiding touch with a most perfect sparkleand then firm and impactful when necessary. Every day after work I have been jamming out and just having a blast. I took a further glance at this loudspeaker and it's siblings wide range of paint offerings. Email. The bass is phenomenal; powerful and nuanced. I find myself frequently shaking my head at comments from people who smugly make fun of a speaker they haven't even sampled themselves. I hope you market these well and get the acclaim and recognition that you and these speakers deserve. So we will see what happens. Thinking that it was my mind, I let the DIs run on its own, went back and listened to the same tracks on the GE Triton 7s It's a three-way bass-reflex design with a rear-firing port that loads two 6.5" mid/bass drivers and, yup, seven 1" fabric-dome tweeters. When I didnt hear anything after two weeks I called and spoke with Eric Alexander who sounded very stressed out and said theyd be two more weeks and rushed me off the phone. The women there didn't know anything about speakers and the owner was rude. They had no presence and above all were not at all exciting and I played everything on them from Bachs Goldberg Variations, Scarlatti piano sonatas, BB King with a full horn selection, Bill Evans, Mozarts symphony #41 in C major, even some rap, my whole playlist plus a bunch of CDs. While I wont claim that these $2,000 monitors can hang with the Nagra, VTL, Wilson XVX; or Audio Research, Sonus faber Il Cremonese; or McIntosh, Bowers and Wilkins $60k Nautilus shells systems I heard in demo rooms (because they cant) I will say they outright trounce the Wilson TuneTot, Sonus faber Sonetto II and Olympica Nova I, and any B&W stand-mounter (though Ive only heard up to the 805 D3, not the new 805 D4). Progressive? 5 Stars confirmed. I would think that your doors are being beaten down by audio shops that want to carry your line. What zone are you in? Copy link. I wrote that last October, after hearing Tekton Design's new Impact Monitor speakers at the 2017 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. I told Alexander how I imagined that every loudspeaker cabinet is like a piano's soundboard: Regardless of how thick or thin, heavy or light, braced or unbraced, it will contribute to the overall tone of a loudspeaker. I want to leave you guys (Eric and Karma) with a few words of my feelings toward the Double Impact speakers. You can't demo these unless you go to a show or convention and with Covid swirling around all shows are cancelled. Ive sold my entire 5.1 system and will be listening to the DIs in stereo only. Upon leaving I called Tekton with about 2 hours of advance notice, which I dont recommend (later), and I was met with an extremely pleasant welcoming experience. A final note, the Double Impact are so transparent/neutral you will hear the signature of what ever you drive them with. Tekton is a direct sale not through a distributor. :-) .. Who is not in the zone? It reminded me of when I bought two of those My pillows which I wont go into here. There is no contest here in terms of mid-range sound and scale of presentation. I cant tell you how awesome these speakers sound (im sure youve heard them). He was quite defensive in a thread on Audiogon lately too. The soundstage is absolutely enormous with precise imaging. We recently took a Family Vacation that ended up taking us through Orem UT on the way to Lagoon. LOL. The best was everyone new to the group had the same questionIf these are so good why isnt there a distribution deal? to, in terms of detail and soundstage. The closer I sat to the speakers, the less focused the aural images were; the farther away, the more whole the sound became. Mr. HR always seems to toss the readership a GODIVA Truffle in his various writings. Apparently, Ron from New Record Day was provided with a sample of the Tekton Impact Audiophile tower speakers. I dont mean to be mean but all speakers sound as you described right outta the box. These are attributes normally only found in speakers costing ridiculous amounts of money and even then there are no guarantees. Now a pair of Sonus Faber Sonettos V grace our family room. Speak plainly. Add to these virtues the fact that few other moderately priced audiophile speakers can play so loud without distortion. Great idea How about 7 woofers surrounding 7 tweeters? The soundstage is incredible, the highs, mid and bass is spot on. When I admitted that this shocked me and that I still didn't understand, Alexander continued: "Some of the magic of our patented seven-tweeter polycell array is the dramatically reduced system moving mass and its power-handling capabilities. But you will have to do your homework. Hopefully what I have to say will motivate you to stay the coarse that you are on. These are really enjoyable speakers for most music, and rock in particular. We will talk about what is the best speaker to date in this price category as an all-rounder. . Every day while sitting at work I cant wait to get home to throw on a record and experience it in a whole new way! The best of Fourplay is another good jazz cd that the DIs just put right in my living room. Thanks for making these incredible speakers, and for selling them at such a reasonable price point! "The Impact Monitor cabinet material is high-quality MDF," replied. Sean does a great job of describing the speakers sound. ", "You immediately hear the large soundstage of the Tektons. Tekton is considered, at best, controversial because it's designs stomp on several well known and widely accepted concepts of loudspeaker design. Surprisingly, I heard no obvious problems. I listened to the wilsons for about 15 mins, but, their sound got stuck in my head ever since. Nothing is as good as a live performance but this is as close as Ive heard and thats the best compliment I can give to a speaker. 12,531 posts. The behavior of the people at the company really sound strange. After two years of listening to these properly set up in a treated room other speakers (in the $1k $5k price range) just sound thin. In my small apartment, the Tekton Impact Monitors, in their High Gloss black finish, looked much bigger than they had at RMAF 2017. I had a feeling that I should have gotten the SE, based on what i have experienced with the double impacts I am confident that the SE would certainly be worth the upgrade. NOTE: High gloss finishes have longer lead times than standard gloss. Stuffing socks or air conditioner filter is some thing similar to "heuristic" solution to the problem of over blown bass :-) . foam bungs that some manufacturers ship with their speakers to allow the user to tune the bass response by either partially or fully blocking the port? I bought my Double Impacts on a few months ago and at which time was informed that they would take about ninety days to receive. This is a very odd story not from your side but the company. The mids are spot on. Your boxing is very clever, and although Im 68, I had no trouble unpacking these bad boys all by myself. Required fields are marked *. For all I know they could be good speakers but NOTHING like theyre described to be in reviews, no way. US Audio Mart . I stopped at a Golden ear / Revel dealer on the way up and spent an hour listening to both brands, (very different from each other), and in my opinion were both just poorly paired with electronics for my taste. Thank you Eric for putting the performers and performance right in front of me. One reviewer said something like that they were worth speakers costing more than ten thousand dollars and another one said that some audiophiles were trading in their THIRTY-thousand-dollar speakers for the Double Impacts. Trump is a forward-looking progressive and Romney a luddite. Basically perfect. Otherwise this could at best be called a two and a half way. After talking to Eric I decided to go with his Enzos and was floored by what I was hearing! That system would cost $117,000 in todays dollars. After a month with them I couldnt be more pleased and these are my speakers for life, unless Eric comes up with something even better! I feel no need to further chase the audiophile horizon. Spooky! If you want something pretty to put in a main living room, these may not be it, but in a dedicated audio room like I have (and a lot of you too, Im sure) that doesnt matter. There has been a lot of talk about Tekton speakers comparing to brands that cost tens of thousands of dollars, best in the world, blah, blah, blah. This is an example from B&W: They really do seem to be endgame speakers, for HT anyway - I`m 100% movies for my use. Delete. Tekton Design Impact Monitors ($2,000 per pair) (Read our review) Tekton Design makes some of the most dynamic, easiest-to-drive speakers with a patented midrange driver system that is possibly . Listening to recorded live music is like being in front of the performance. Here is a list of some of my past speakers to help you with my point of reference. VTI AV Rack BL304GB An 8 ohm version of the Impact Monitor is available on special request. After a few differant amp purchases I settled on the Raven Audio Blackhawk LE integrated amp and was ready for to improve upon the Enzos. #2. I heard the Tekton at a trade show, and it sounded like a decent speaker playing bad demo material. The first thing that it reminded me of was the Wilson Alexandria X-2 that I had a chance to listen to while auditioning for my 804. Even at a cost no object all the way up to the names of Tidal, Wilson, and other exotic stuff that cost more than my house and I cant pronounce, I still want the DIs because they make music fun!!!!!!! There has to be something wrong with your set up or speakers IMHO. There was no treatment to the room at all, the electronics were Parasound. These speakers will not be replaced anytime soon (unless Eric comes up with something better). I feel I have found the perfect speaker for me. The array of seven handles high output levels flawlessly. It is a treat to listen to and watch on a Blu-Ray concert. 98.82dB 2.83V@1m sensitivity. The Double Impact SE are bit bigger, but may be the last pair I need to buy. That said, I do most of my listening in the dark in a dedicated listening room, so it doesnt bother me too much. VTI VSP Series 24 in. Ive never heard Jerry sound like this before. Ive listened to many speakers from many different brands and speaker arrangements. Your upstream changes will stand out. The []Tekton Impact Monitors were doing it all: singing, drumming, shaking the air, drawing me in, and making every CD or LP pure pleasure to listen to. The differentiation of the instruments is unlike any other I have heard. The Moabs in my room replaced Talon Khorus that were I think about $16k when new back about 20 years ago. Haven't heard them - no first hand experience. The treble is pristine and liquid. I don't think any of them have ever matched his sensitivity claims which are as high as 99dB on some models. These are my impressions of the DI: I hooked up the Double Impacts to my plain old Onkyo Tx-NR676 receiver and placed them directly where my old speakers were with my Amazon basics wiring that I attached to generic banana clips. With near full-frequency sound impactful bass, clear midrange and sweet highs and large soundstage, the Impact Monitor is a great choice if you need to save some space in your listening area, as compared to our floor-standing speakers. Everythingsounds large whereas Moab scales down for intimate music and up for large ensembles.Terry London, 6 moons. Was in listening heaven. These speakers are more like a wide open window; no glass.